


The Greater Good

by Minish



Category: Dishonored (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-04
Updated: 2013-05-04
Packaged: 2017-12-10 09:23:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/784457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minish/pseuds/Minish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High chaos (with Emily surviving) AU where Callista lives and is thoroughly disturbed by Corvo's corruption.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Greater Good

Your name is Callista Curnow. A long time ago, you believed in a good cause and a good man, but those days are over.

The Loyalists' mission seemed simple enough to you: to return the Lady Emily to her rightful place on the throne and reinstate the Kaldwin bloodline. You suppose you should have recognized way back when that this cause being run by men of power was a red flag, but wishing changes nothing. The truth of the matter is you were almost killed by those men of power, and though in the end they were taken down...for what?

When things started, you respected Corvo Attano. The Lord Protector -- it was his very job to ensure the safety of the Kaldwin women, to save them from any dangers you might encounter. He was noble, in the very basic sense of the word. He reminded you a little bit of your own Uncle Curnow. When you heard that your uncle was in danger -- that he, who was like a father to you, would be killed -- you knew you had to do something, and so you turned to Corvo, someone who knew protecting like the back of his hand. You begged him for his help, and he nodded and gave you a smile before heading off with Samuel.

And yet the news came that Geoff Curnow never returned from his meeting with the High Overseer, and you ran off to your tower and cried for a while. You knew your expectations were unrealistic -- that this man who you'd never met before would protect someone so dear to you, that he could protect someone so dear to you -- but still, under the mourning, the grief, it stung. And though it had barely been a day, that was when you stopped respecting Corvo Attano, and the distrust crept in.

You saw how he acted around Emily, though, and that softened you up. He truly did care for her, even if he could act a bit callous at times. He loved her. Rumor had it she was his own daughter, though you didn't really know. Once you got talking to Emily, you found she cared for him a lot, too. She trusted him, and so you decided to give that a shot as well.

You couldn't, though, in the end. Because the places where Corvo went would be wraught with death upon his return. He was a killer; hard, and cold-blooded. He might have the right ideas in mind, but in the end, what did intentions matter if the actions that represented them were so cruel? After the loss of your uncle, Emily was welcome; though you wouldn't admit it, she was almost like a daughter to you, and seeing her having lost someone too felt as though maybe somebody understood, even if she was a child. And yet she looked up to Corvo so, and Corvo was a killer. He was twisting her, slowly, warping her into something else. And in the end, you just couldn't have that.

Maybe you blamed him for Uncle Curnow's death. He had already taken away one of your family members, and like hell was he going to take away the closest thing you had left.

Maybe that's what made this so easy.

Corvo Attano was still Lord Protector, but he was also an advisor to the throne now that Emily was in her rightful place. Havelock and his comrades might be dead, but Attano was just as warped as the rest of them, in your own opinion. Perhaps even moreso. Working as a tutor to Emily, you heard the whispers in Dunwall Tower. They said that when he went to Kingsparrow Island, Corvo left not a soul alive. Not one. A man like that, advising the throne? It disgusted you. His idea of morality, of justice, was nothing close to what it should be. You decided you had to take action.

Tonight, Corvo sits reading a large volume in front of a fireplace in a room just outside of Emily's own as she sleeps. You step inside as quietly as you can, but you know from the second your foot hits the ground that it is futile. How could you, a simple tutor to the queen, outsmart a master assassin? 

"Callista," he says, still reading. "Why do you walk so quietly?" He turns his head ever so slightly to catch you in his peripheral vision.

"Lord Protector," you say, the weight of the knife behind your back growing heavier by the second. With a soft thud, the book Corvo holds closes and he sets it down. There is a moment of silence followed by his long, tired sigh.

"Don't think for a moment that I don't know what it is you intend to do," he says quietly. Your heart is beating faster. Will he kill you like the rest? He doesn't move from his seat, staring into the flames with something that could only be described as anguish.

"But could you live with yourself? Could you live with yourself knowing you'd killed another, Callista Curnow? Because I have experience in that field, and it is not any mean feat." He stands and turns to look at you know, his eyes dead. Your voice falters as you begin to speak.

"If I knew...that what I was doing was for the...greater good..." You jump slightly as Corvo lets out a barking laugh.

"Callista...why do you think I did what I have done? It was for the greater good, that's what I told myself, that's what the others told me. But do the ends really justify the means?"

"I...I cannot let you keep your position...knowing who you are. I won't let you turn Emily into some kind of...monster." Corvo looks at you and speaks quietly.

"Emily is someone for whom I care very much. I can assure you...while I still live, there is no way I will leave where I stand now...but only while I still live, I'm afraid."

"What...what are you saying?" you ask, putting more distance between the two of you. 

"I will not stop you, Callista. If this is what you intend to do, so be it. I have sinned, and I knew that a day would come when I would have to pay for my sins. The only thing in your way...is you. Tell me...can you do this?" He steps closer, and there is a darkness in his eyes that you have never seen before. He is unsmiling, a sadness in his voice and in his face. You lift the knife in front of you, slowly. He is wearing no armor of any sort. With a clean thrust to his heart, he would be dead. It is for Emily, you tell yourself, your heart pounding. You feel nauseated. It is worse with him staring you in the face like this.

"Well?" he asks. You step closer, unspeaking, gripping the knife. Your knuckles are white. You feel as though you might be sick.

"I have a final request," he says, breathing out deeply. "Tell Emily...tell her that what I did, I did to protect her. Nothing...nothing more." But was that really the truth? Was it really only for Emily Kaldwin? Does a man kill everything in his sight simply to protect another...? You suppose you are walking proof of that.

It feels sickening as the knife enters his flesh. He exhales sharply before slumping to the ground. You run to the washroom, where you are sick.

It was for Emily, you say to yourself. It was for the greater good. 


End file.
